Austin

Last night, Scott and I went to one of the coolest events we’ve been to since moving to Austin. Outdoor movies in Austin with Alamo Drafthouse! The Alamo Drafthouse Rolling Roadshow is hosting pop-up outdoor movies at various locations in Austin. Last week, they screened “Goonies” at Live Oak Brewing and last night, it was another one of my favorites—“Moonrise Kingdom”.

The event took place at the French Legation Museum, which is located in a cute little neighborhood, a street off the beaten path in east Austin. It’s surrounded by adorable historic homes—some remodeled, some still standing strong in their need-some-lovin’ glory.

The scene reminded me of events I attended in Austin back when I was a little girl. It wasn’t too crowded, and everyone there was super friendly and more than willing to offer up a piece of beef jerky or share a bottle opener if you forgot yours at home. Before the movie, we all sat on blankets enjoying the warm, yet somewhat breezy air, while watching lightning bugs light up the sky. It was a perfect night.

If you missed the magic of last night, don’t worry. There are plenty of Rolling Roadshow events to catch in the future. Next week, they’re screening “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” with a very special guest in attendance—Judge Reinhold! And the next few weeks after that, they’ll have more movie surprises up their sleeves. You can bet Scott and I will be at most of them.

Tickets are only $10 per person. Bring a blanket, some treats, drinks and comfortable chairs. There are clean bathrooms a few steps away on the property and plenty of room to spread out. Free street parking is available, though you may have to walk a tiny bit since some of the streets are designated only for resident parking. (So read the signs before ya put it in park.)

A couple weeks ago, I was lucky enough to chat with Marco Rodriguez, one of the three masterminds behind Zilker Brewing Company in Austin, Texas. Over a ridiculously delicious Coffee Milk Stout, he filled me in on how they went from corporate to kegs.

Zilker Brewing Company is the creation of brothers Patrick and Forrest Clark and their good friend Marco Rodriguez. The three started home brewing in 2008. After entering their IPA into a competition and winning gold, they knew it was time to get serious about turning their hobby into a full time profession. “That was the kick in the pants we needed to get started on the business plan,” says Marco. Fast forward to a few years later where you can spend a relaxing day at the popular brewery on the burgeoning east side of Austin, lounging with friends on tables made from reclaimed train car wood while sipping on hoppy favorites like the Marco IPA.

Before crafting beer full time, Marco’s days were spent working at his desk job as a tax examiner for the IRS, while nights were reserved for volunteering at local breweries like Jester King. “I think I called and emailed every brewery within a 50 mile radius, just to get my foot in the door,” he says. Marco isn’t the only passionate hard worker at Zilker. Rachael Hackathorn, Zilker’s Operations and Events Manager, proudly admits she easily puts in 100+ hours in a week. “It doesn’t help that I live a couple blocks away from the brewery,” she laughs. “One special night when the fire alarm went off, we learned I could get out of bed, throw on clothes, jump in my car and be here in 3 minutes.”

The entire team at Zilker Brewing Company happily works their arses off. Though they each have set jobs and responsibilities, the work fam (made up of 3 taproom staffers, a delivery driver, brewer & 3 owners) chips in however they can, doing anything from carrying kegs to installing lights and helping coordinate community events.

Sarah—one of the skilled taproom pourers and pictured above—is starting classes to earn her Cicerone Certification (think wine Sommelier, but for the beer world.) Rachael is an exam away from earning hers. It doesn’t take more than a flight at the bar to understand these gals know their stuff. “It’s fun being able to nerd out about beer together,” says Rachael. “Plus it helps to have a knowledgeable staff.”

Most of the team got into the industry by experimenting with home brewing. If you’re interested in getting into the brew-making business, Marco suggests visiting your local brew shop like Austin Homebrew Supply or SoCo Homebrew to get hooked up with a basic brew set up. “It takes a lot of teaching yourself, reading books and just jumping right in and figuring it out,” says Marco. One of his favorites books is “How to Brew” by John Palmer. He’s a big fan of Ray Daniels too.

Finding the perfect location for Zilker Brewing Company took a while. “We’re picky,” says Marco. “We wanted a cool place where people in the neighborhood could gather. A warehouse box wasn’t good enough for us.” Luckily Zócalo (the company behind Zilker Brewing’s branding) were besties with the landlord of where the brewery now calls home. The guys were able to nab the space before it hit the market. After a lot of construction, hard work, patience and luck, Zilker Brewing Company opened its welcoming garage doors in 2015. With raving Yelp reviews and Zilker Brewing T-shirts, hats and other schwag being worn around town, it’s pretty clear the neighborhood is happy to have them. Stop by Zilker Brewing this weekend for a cold one, and keep an eye on their Facebook page for special events.

I have a fun hangover. This past weekend was one for the books. Or, um for the blogs… GET IT?! Scott and I attended the Austin City Limits Music Festival with a few friends in town from from LA. (HI GUYS!) I’ve been dying to attend ACL, and was even more excited to share the experience with a few other newbies.

We didn’t attend all 3 days—just Saturday. Milo Greene, El Tule, Alabama Shakes, San Fermin, Walk the Moon and so many other great bands were in the lineup. The artist Scott and I were most excited to see was Shakey Graves. We first saw him live at Ed Helms’ Bluegrass Situation at the Ace Hotel Theatre in downtown LA. We’ve listened to his tunes ever since and have been looking forward to seeing him play on his hometown turf and our new home—Austin! It was well worth the heat and clouds of smoke. He is so incredibly talented (that Samsonite kick drum, come on!), super funny and just so fun to watch perform. Shakey was definitely the highlight of both me and Scott’s day.

The rest of the fest included chimichangas and fried stuffed avocados from Trudy’s and tunes from Jose Gonzales, TV on the Radio, Twenty One Pilots, Deadmau5 and a little bit of Drake.

My favorite part of ACL didn’t happen while we were at the fest though. It happened the next day when we took the crew to Barton Springs. It was Scott’s first visit and I hadn’t been there since I was a little girl. Jumping into that freezing water reconnected me with Austin more than any other experience has so far. Lord Huron was playing across the way at ACL, which made the moment even more perfect.

This past month has been completely insane. Back in April, Scott and I made the decision to move to my hometown of Austin, Texas. We had a few months to wrap our heads around the idea, but it wasn’t until I sold my car, crammed all of our belongings into a Budget moving truck, hitched Scott’s car to the truck, moved out of our apartments and hit the road that IT GOT REAL. We spent four days on the road and I really enjoyed having that time to laugh, scream and think about how OMG it’s happening. We’re really going for it!

Why are we going for it? I’ve always kind of kept moving back to Austin someday in the back of my brain, though I never thought it’d be this soon! The move was actually Scott’s idea. When he first brought it up, my response was… DUH! He fell in love with Austin on one of our trips and decided it’s the perfect place to start his production company and a new chapter of his life. He’s been in LA for the past ten years and he’s looking forward to getting to know a city that may be a bit more like his Oregon upbringing. (Green, outdoorsy and friendly… but with a lot more queso, breakfast tacos and visits to Jester King Brewery.)

It’s been 20 years since I lived in Austin. I spent my younger days making candles at Eeyore’s Birthday Party, riding on my step dad’s shoulders in the Capitol 10,000, winning 1st place (holler!) in the costume pet parade with my sis and our German Shepherd/wolf named Rasta (dressed in homemade Batman costumes), spinning under the Zilker Park Christmas tree, trekking through the Greenbelt from my backyard to Barton Springs and shopping the sh*t out of Barton Creek Square Mall. I attended almost every school in South Austin. I went to kindergarten on the drag at St. Austin’s, where I was always super jelly of the young punk-bums with bright blue hair. I went to Travis Heights Elementary, before transferring to Zilker Elementary, then to Fulmore Middle School on South Congress, then Barton Hills Elementary. I was a cheerleader at Martin Junior High who knew more about how to do the Tootsee Roll than a Toe-Touch. Then a life curveball moved me to San Antonio just before high school. I experienced quite a culture shock transitioning from going to school on the East side of Austin back in the day to going to high school in a fancy-pants area of San Antonio. It was um… different.

Though I’ve moved all over Texas, lived in New York and of course the lovely Culver City, Austin has always felt right to me. The energy, the people, the food, the music, the sense of community, the food, the food, the food… it’s home to me. I’m incredibly excited to get to know Austin again. It’s a bit emotional for me. It’s fun for me. It’s thrilling for me. It’s just wild. Austin has definitely changed since I was a kid and I can’t wait to explore it all with Scott! And fill y’all in on our shenanigans, duh!

As far as the blog goes, you can definitely expect it to evolve. Since I’m stoked to immerse myself in all things Austin, Austin and the surrounding areas (GUH, so many great places!) will play a big role here at Mustache Melrose. But you’ll also see a gang-load of photos from all of our travels outside of Texas. I still want to show you guys pics from our trips to Hawaii, Disneyland, Santa Barbara and a few fun outings in LA. Once we get settled, I’ll get to work on updating the hell out of y’all. In the meantime, follow along on Instagram and enjoy the pics from our road trip below. Spoiler alert: TEEPEES.

GUYS! The next few posts on the blog will be primarily about LA (with a few travel posts peppered in). WHY, YOU ASK? BECAUSE SCOTT AND I ARE MOVING TO AUSTIN!!! Yep. I can’t believe it. I am finally moving back home to Austin. I am laughing maniacally with joy as I write this. I can’t wait to start a new chapter with Scott and explore and get to know my city again. What does this mean for the blog? COOL STUFF AND THINGS, OF COURSE! I will still be sharing pics from our trips to everywhere, you’ll just see a lot more posts about things to see and do around Austin. Don’t offer to help us load our Uhaul just yet—we’re not headed out until late August. We have the whole summer to soak in LA.

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